Puerto Rican Police Plan Crackdown On Weapons

Aqui y alla - From the Caribbean and Latin America

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - With 80 people dead from gunshots in December, police in Puerto Rico say they will open gun control bureaus across the island in an attempt to crack down on illegal weapons.

Inspectors at the bureaus will review records at local firearms shops to track large purchases of ammunition and verify that gun buyers have all the required permits, Police Superintendent Pedro Toledo said. Toledo said the move was prompted by the wave of killings in December and the seizure of more than 100 illegal weapons during raids in the last two weeks of 1998.

He said the island's 39 gun shops are already required to record sales but that regional bureaus would allow police to increase the number and thoroughness of store inspections. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of 3.8 million people, had 648 killings in 1998, down from 724 in 1997.